Misconception of one in Darkness
by The One Who Remembers
Summary: Ventus had these dreams.. Aqua helps him, and listens to Vanitas's story... only to find that the trio had been in the wrong about Vanitas. This is his true story. AU, alternate ending from BBS. Oneshot. Vanitas may be OOC.


A/N: Hello again all. I'm not gonna continue KH: WoE for lack of response, so to speak. I only got like 1 pick in the review. So I'n planning to either do one shots or new stories for the time being, until I get like enough responses to continue with the story.

And enough of that, let's get it on with the story! Again, please do read and review, it helps me a lot.

Note: This takes place 3 years after the final battle. Xenahort failed to take over Terra, and the trio are victorious.

Disclaimer: yeah yeah. I don't own KH. If I did, I would be super rich and not be writing fanfiction.

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Ventus was sitting in a balcony of an apartment, watching the colours of the wind fly past. It has been 3 years since the incident in the Keyblade Graveyard and Xenahort. He, Terra and Aqua managed to secure victory over Xehanort and Vanitas, though at the cost of Master Eraqus's life. A lot has changed in the last 3 years, he thought.

He looked back at the living room. Terra was making coffee in the living room, while Aqua was busy reading a book. Ventus sighed and began to go back to his room when Aqua asked him. "Ven. Is something the matter?" "No, Aqua." "Something's up. Your face and emotions give you away, Ven. We can help you. What's the matter?" asked Aqua. Upon hearing this, Terra chimed in, "Yeah, Ven. We can help you. Just tell us what's going on."

Ven sighed, before continuing. "Vanitas is haunting my dreams again. I thought he was destroyed along with the Unversed, but apparently not so. His screams haunt me, his pleas burn through me, it's just too hard to try and resist any longer.." Aqua thought about it for some time, before continuing, "How long has this been happenening?" "Ever since the... you know.. incident in the Keyblade Graveyard." said Ventus.

Terra leaned in, and whispered to Aqua "You could try that summoning spell. You know, the one that allows the Nobody of someone to appear, though only an apparition." "Since when did you learn to use big words.. Anyway, there's a high risk of this to backfire. The Nobody, in this case, Vanitas, may take over Ventus's body. There's also a chance that Ven's heart may be tainted forever due to Vanitas's dark influence." "Alright, alirght, I get your point. So what should we do then?" asked Terra, scratching his head.

"Ven. I have a way to ask Vanitas about this. It may solve your problem, but there's a high risk that your heart may be tainted, or lost to Vanitas. Do you want this method, or the alternative?" asked Aqua. "That sounds ominous... What's the alternative?" asked Ven. "The other method, is forbidden in the ways of the light. I only resort to this method if there is no other way to finish the job." began Aqua.

"The other alternative is to resurrect Vanitas from the dead."

Terra and Ventus gasped in horror. "Wouldn't Vanitas have his full power back if he's resurrected?" shuddered Ven, remembering how hard it was to fight Vanitas in combat. His skills with the keyblade, Ven acknowledged, was equal or slighty superior to his. "I know, but wait. This spell reduces his power to only ten percent of his full power. Or, if for questioning purposes, 5 percent." "Go with the 5 percent, Vanitas is still dangerous, even weakened." Terra said, remembering the time that he found and fought Vanitas' Remnant in the Badlands. It took him all his superior swordplay and strength to triumph over him, and that itself was hard. "How did you know about this spell anyway?" asked Ven.

"I was searching the library for a Stopga spellbook when I noticed a small book that drooepd out from the shelf. Suffice to say that I had to resort to this when only truly necessary, and it isn't pretty. Alright, I need time to prepare the spell. It should be done by tomorrow." said Aqua, beginning to walk to the library to find that forbidden spell. "Go get some rest, Ven. This is gonna be a hard time for you." advised Terra. Ven nodded, then walked back up towards his room.

Ven walked to his room and laid down on his bed. His room was green in colour, with a study table, and a wardrobe. His bed was a normal bed, but quite comfy. He also had his own personal training area, courtesy of Aqua, to train in case of stress. But that wasn't the case now.

"Vanitas... What should I do when he appears tomorrow? Should I act fierce? Or should I try to forgive him? His pleas still echo in my ears..."

-Flashback-

Ventus was floating in his Dive to the Heart and saw a vision of himself and Vanitas. This, he noticed, was at the end of the final battle between him and Vanitas at that time, when Vanitas was wielding the incomplete version of the X-blade. 'He' struck the final blow to Vanitas, which caused the X-blade to break. Vanitas pitifully tried to grab back the X-blade, but upon failing to do so, he turned to Ven. "Help... Me..." pleaded Vanitas, before fading into darkness, but his pleading still echoing around the Dive to the Heart. It was usually at this time that Ven screamed from too much of the pleading and woke up.

-End flashback-

Ven shuddered at this, and held up his trusty wooden keyblade. This keyblade was made by Terra, and had the word 'Terra' etched on the guard. "I trust in my best friends." Ven declared, and he summoned his keyblade, Lost Memory. He switched to this keyblade after Vanitas challenged him to the final battle in the Keyblade Graveyard. Realising that Lost Memory woulldn't help, he dispelled Lost Memory and instead summoned Wayward Wind. Ah, this keyblade. This keyblade started it all. The time when he met Aqua and Terra, the time when they spent the night under the meteor shower together, the time when they fought the Trinity Armour Radiant Garden... It brought back many positve memories to Ven, providing him with calmness and solace. "Enough of Memory lane, I'm gonna go and deal with this tomorrow." Ven grunted and rolled over. Some snores were heard in approximately 5 seconds.

The next morning, Ven woke up. He was surprised that Vanitas didn't appear in a dream like the other nights. "Hmm.. maybe he knows about what will be happenening later. Meh." Ven pondered, before stepping into the bathroom and brushing his teeth. He had a quick shower before he went down for breakfast.

Upon walking into the kitchen, Aqua noticed him. "Oh, hi Ven!" said Aqua, drinking what appeared to be coffee from a mug. "Morning Ven!" said Terra, cooking breakfast apparently. "Morning guys." said Ventus. "So, what's for breakfast today?" "Bacon and fried egg." said Terra. "You seem calmer than usual.. I take it that Vanitas hasn't been bothering you last night?" asked Aqua. "Nope, zip, nada!" exclaimed Ven, happily, before switching topic. "So, how's the ceremony going?" he asked. "It's done. I need to take a rest though, it took me all night to do this..." said Aqua, stretching her arms. "Take your time Aqua, I want a safe ceremony with no chances of mishaps." said Ven. "Don't worry Ven..." began Aqua. "Yeah, don't worry Ven, Aqua knows her stuff about magic. Well, more than me though.." said Terra. "I can help you with your magic, but you're just too proud to want help." commented Aqua with a scoff. "Oh please, the time when..." began Terra.

"Alright, alright, I get your point, both of you. Let's just have a happy breakfast in the morning. Besides, the morning isn't a time for quarrels." said Ven. At this, Terra and Aqua looked at each other and smiled. Ven had come a long way ever since he joined them years ago.

Three hours later.

"It's ready. Ven, please come here." said Aqua, pointing to the circle that she had drawn on the ground. Ven stepped on the circle, nervous about what was about to happen. "Alright, Ven. I need you to calm your heart, and clear your mind of all emotion, be it good or bad." said Aqua. Ven began to do so, beginning a meditating pose. Aqua smiled at this, before starting the spell.

Terra watched at the corner, hoping for the best. His magic capability was the worst of the trio, but his strength more than made up for it. He watched as Aqua began mumbling under her breath the incantations of the spell. Nothing seemed to happen in the first 5 minutes.

On the 5th minute, however, a body-like shape began to appear on the ground directly in front of Ven. Noticing this, Terra quickly advised Ven to close his eyes until the spell was over, as the body forming was not a pretty sight. His feet formed first, then it grew upward, all the way until his head. This took about 10 minutes, Terra keeping timing.

Aqua opened her eyes. "Ven, you may open your eyes now." said Aqua. Ven did so, not expecting his brother to be formed below him. He quickly backed away and ran to Terra's side. "Relax Ven, this is gonna be alright. We'll protect you." soothed Terra.

"Vanitas, awake!" said Aqua. On that phrase alone, Vanitas's eyes flew open. He quickly stood up, and studied his surroundings. Aqua, Terra and Ven summoned their keyblades, but they were placed at their side, to prove that they wanted peace.

"Where... where am I? What am I doing here? The last I saw was the X-blade before fading into darkness..." stuttered Vanitas before looking at his body. "How.. Who revived me?" he asked. "I did. But for a reason though." said Aqua. "What is it?" Asked Vanitas. "Ventus wishes to know why you haunt his dreams every night, ever since the day we won against you and Xenahort." said Aqua.

Vanitas turned around and looked at Ven. Comparing to last time, Vanitas noticed that Ven had considerably grown the last time he saw him. He had grown at least 3 inches in height. His face became more mature, but he still wore the same armour as last time, but resized.

"you wish to know why I did so?" asked Vanitas. Ven nodded. "Fine, I'll tell you. Sit tight for a while, because this may take a while." After the trio got setteled, Vanitas began his story.

"As you all know, I was the pure essence of Ven's darkness. Xenahort made me... I guess you could call him my father. But after all that happened, I guess that he doesn't deserve to be called father by me anymore."

"He used me. Instead of normal training like you guys, he trained me 24-7. My rest time was only during my sleep time. Do you know how much I had to suffer, under the tyrant that created me?"

"When I infiltrated the academy in which you guys were training in, I saw you three training together. Happily. Joking around. And I thought, why couldn't my Student teacher relations be as good as that? I walked around, finding for certain stuff that Xenahort needed at that time. After completing my mission, I looked back at you 3 training, especially at Ventus. You looked so happy, I got envious. This was the time that I had the power to summon the Unversed."

"As time passed by, Xenahort trained me in the ways of the Dark Arts, but I wondered, why should I follow him? Why should I trust in him, who doesn't even consider me as a human? And then I tried to obtain a book about the ways of the light from the academy. But Xenahort saw the book, and in doing so, he stripped me of all my powers, and no food and you know how torturing that was? Do you?" asked Vanitas, with a tear.

"...I guess not, Please, do continue." said Aqua.

While this was going on, Aqua, Ven and Terra each had different reactions towards Vanitas's speech. Aqua thought that Vanitas was doing this against his free will. She secretly casted a lie detector spell into his words, and found out that he wasn't lying at all.

Terra, on the other hand, was still suspicious of Vanitas. He still wasn't convinced that Vanitas was a tormented person, also failing to realise that Vanitas was a human with emotions after all. Ven was neutral on this, as he found it hard to believe, but he could tell that he wasn't lying.

"I shall go on then." said Vanitas.

"During the time you guys had the Mark of Mastery exam, know why the orbs of light were acting strangely? Xenahort was the one who corrupted the orbs with darkness, causing them to go berserk and attacking Ven in the process. Also, Xenahort ordered me to talk to Ven at that time, about Terra leaving. I believe this was what caused the chain reaction of events at the same time, and I'm sorry."

"As I said before, Xenahort was controlling my body, and my powers. The time when Xenahort made me fight Ven and the keyblade-wielding mouse.. Mickey, I assume? He controlled me, but at that time, he didn't manage to control it to the fullest potential, and this was what caused Ven and Mickey to triumph in the first place. I was holding back Xenahort's killer intent as long as I could. Xenahort, realising that, ordered my body to come to him just nearby. In doing so, he then took further control of my body, nearing to the point where my mind was halfway taken, only my consciousness was present, the rest was in Xenahort's control."

"The time when Xenahort made me break Ven's keyblade in Neverland, I'm also sorry about that. It was not my doing, but Xenahort. I value memoirs, even though I was born out of pure darkness, but being the controller of beings made out of emotions... You get what I mean."

"Before the final battle, Xenahort made me talk to Ventus again. This time, it was in Destiny Islands. He ordered me to issue a challenge to Ventus, to lure him to the Keyblade Graveyard. Somehow, Xenahort also managed to spellspeak, enraging Ventus and making him come to the Keyblade Graveyard, to my dismay. I didn't want to break up the trio's happiness, but Xenahort controlled me in a way that it was impossible to escape. His control over me was absolute."

"Did you notice, at that time Terra fought against Xenahort and I, we held back a little? This was due to the fact that Xenahort's hold on me was lessening due to him getting ready for the heart transfer, from his old body, to Terra's. I hoped for him to fail, trusting in Terra's willpower to keep him alive. My trust was true, as Xenahort failed to take over Terra's body. But Xenahort then took to my body instead. I lost control of everything at that time, so imagine how surprised I was when I woke up with the X-blade in my hand."

"I tried moving, but somehow, for some reason, Xenahort's Dark nature still kept me in his control. Ven and I fought in his Dive to the Heart. Ven won, and at that time, Xenahort released his control over me."

"and I thought, how is this fair? I was only checking a book about the light and Xenahort made me do things that I did not like, against my will, and he abused me. He abused me in ways you never thought possible. I cried out and I knew, it was hopeless. I never got to enjoy life anyway... I was just an incarnation of Ven's darkness.. Xenahort thought that all emotion would be void in me, but he was wrong."

"I do possess emotions, even though I was made from a darkness of a human. I was filled with a tiny bit of light. As a wise sage once said, Light must exist alongside darkness. It's like a coin. If you lose one, the other goes with it. Even though I was filled with pure darkness, a spark of light came from Ven and filled me with hope. With it, I realised that I was wrong, Xenahort was wrong. I'm sorry." Vanitas said before beginning to fade.

"W..Wait!" said Ventus, close to tears. "Ah, looks like my time is up. It was soothing to talk about this. I won't be haunting you anymore, as my heart has finally been in peace from telling the truth." said Vanitas.

"I have one more request. May I see your face? Before you go." said Ven.

He removed his helmet, and Ven saw the sad smile on his face before he faded.

When Vanitas was gone, the trio realised that they had mistakenly accused Vanitas of doing all these, though it was by mistake, as nobody knew Xenahort took over Vanitas at that time. Ventus went up to his room, crying. Terra began to follow him, but Aqua stopped him, shaking her head. Terra understood instantly.

Ventus stared at the ceiling, thinking about what his brother had said. It was sad that Vanitas was forced to live under a tyrant like Xenahort. He felt that Vanitas should be given at least a form of recogition, at least. He stood up, and raised Lost Memory to the skies above.

"Au revoir, brother. May you rest in peace." said Ventus, with a tear in his eye.


End file.
